12:15
by evilwomyn
Summary: A series of phone calls Andrea receives from Miranda at 12:15AM. DWP Movie-based. Mirandy friendship implied.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is just an idea I've had for a while. A series of phone calls Miranda makes to Andrea in the early hours of certain mornings after the young assistant has impressed her. Friendship Mirandy implied, though. Slowly working my way up to femslash but I fear it may take a while aha.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I do not own DWP. Sad times :(

* * *

Andrea couldn't sleep. After such a rollercoaster of a day, she was emotionally and physically exhausted. She climbed out of bed and tip-toed towards the kitchen – careful not to wake Nate – hoping that a midnight snack might settle her a little.

Andrea flicked the kettle on in preparation to make a hot cocoa and opened the fridge...just as her phone rang. She ran to the table in the lounge room area and tried to silence it by covering it with her hands, once again trying to avoid disturbing Nate, but answered it almost immediately when she saw who it was.

"M...Miranda hi. Sorry, I've nearly finished the twins' science project, it will be at the school first thing tomorrow morning."

"Good morning Andrea." The older woman's voice sounded harsh over the phone. She sounded upset and vulnerable. Andrea wondered, is this how Miranda sounded when she let her guard down?

"Um..." Andrea mumbled as she glanced at the clock on the wall across from her.

"I am correct, aren't I?" Miranda spoke, and then paused, Andrea assumed it was to glance at the watch on her wrist, and then Miranda continued, "So I am... It's 12:15 AM. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, no I was going to uh..." Have a midnight snack? No, she couldn't tell Miranda that. Size 6 was the new size 14, after all. "...get a drink of water. I couldn't get to sleep."

"Oh good." Miranda sighed. "I mean, good that I didn't wake you, not that you can't sleep. The fact that you cannot sleep is terrible, I think." She sounded flustered and awkward. She let out a small giggle before sighing again. Andrea closed her eyes and imagined Miranda with an unguarded smile on her face while her head was dipped back in pleasure as she ran her fingers through her hair. She panicked, as she knew the question she was about to ask would most likely ruin the moment they shared.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Miranda?"

Andrea could practically hear Miranda's nostrils flare.

"I thought I should let you know that I received a phone call from the twins and they enjoyed the manuscripts. So...thank you... from them."

Andrea couldn't stop the grin that took over her entire face. Miranda thanked her! Well, on behalf of the twins...but the words still came from her mouth.

"They are very welcome, Miranda." The smile on Andrea's face was evident in her voice. "But I was only doing my job." Andrea's smile faded when she heard Miranda exhale loudly from her nose.

"Right you are, Andrea." Miranda was back to her usual icy self. Andrea, not wanting this informal communication between them to end, decided to bite the bullet and try asking another question.

"Have you had a pleasant evening, Miranda?"

There was a moment of silence before Miranda replied, causing Andrea to wince and regret asking that question.

"It has been...adequate. Stephen is out of town on business, but he'll be back tomorrow, and the girls are away for school so I have the house to myself for a change. It has been rather peaceful. But then I... I don't know. I've felt something missing."

"Even now?" Andrea bit her lip in anticipation. The silence in the conversation made her want to bang her head against a brick wall.

"No." Miranda heard Andrea exhale quite loudly and couldn't help but grin. "No, nothing is missing now." She extended her hand and sipped from her glass of rosé. "I am very grateful to have someone like you as my assistant. Someone who I know will answer my phone calls on at least the second ring, someone who does as I say, someone who...who will listen to me, willingly, as I prattle on about my private life."

"Willingly?" Andrea questioned, wondering why Miranda would ever doubt the young girl's eagerness to obey every single command the older woman gave her.

"You're on the receiving end of this phone call, are you not?"

"Yes, I guess I am. Miranda, I–"

"You could hang up on me, anytime. But you don't. You uh..." Miranda felt a lump in her throat, and she tried her best to clear it discreetly before speaking again, "You could just not...not care. You know, my housemaid could always pick up the girls after school but you're fine doing it and, my god they adore you. They always ask me how you are, too. I just, I..."

Andrea smirked as she heard those last few words muffled and echoed through a wine glass.

"Miranda," She interrupted, "I am very grateful that you are grateful. OK? Look, it's 12:45 in the morning. You should go to bed and get some rest."

"Not before I finish my glass of wine." Miranda's retort made Andrea grin.

"Alright Miranda. Just promise this, you'll go to bed right after you finish your wine. Have a big glass of water beforehand though. You don't want a hangover."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. Sleep well Miranda."

"And you, Andrea."

Andrea was about to end the phone call when she heard the other woman speak her name softly once again, "Andrea."

"Yes, Miranda?"

"Thank you. From me."

Andrea opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by the dial tone. She hung up and placed the phone on the table beside her, before making her way back to the bedroom and curling up next to Nate, sleeping soundly for a solid 5 hours.

The next day at _Runway_, Andrea sat eagerly at her desk, ready for the day ahead and anything Miranda would throw at her. She smiled broadly as she saw her boss waltz through the office. There was a pause in Miranda's graceful steps as she placed her bag and her coat down on Andrea's desk, neatly, with her back turned to Emily. She smiled down at the younger woman and gave a sly nod, which could have easily been mistaken as a shrug or a stretch of the neck from anyone seating her standing behind her.

Andrea bit down on her bottom lip as she watched the editor regain her Ice Queen persona and waltz towards her office without a word spoken. Andrea sat and hoped Miranda would challenge her today, because she knew that if she did a good job at something difficult, like she had yesterday, she would be rewarded with more kindness from the woman whose approval she desperately sought.

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To be continued!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: So glad to see people like this story! I hope the second chapter doesn't disappoint. This is set after the banquet that Andrea has to attend instead of Nate's birthday. It sort of carries on from a deleted scene in the movie- where Stephen makes a bit of noise at the banquet. Anyway...Hope you all enjoy! Please R&R :) x

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This time Andrea was asleep when she received Miranda's late night, or early morning, call. It was Nate's birthday and she had tried her hardest to leave the banquet as soon as she possibly could, but that wasn't good enough for Nate. Andrea had fallen asleep on the couch in her long, black, elegant ball gown, as was startled when she woke at 12:15 AM precisely, to the sound of her ringtone.

"Helloooo Mirandaaaa." Andrea groaned as she sat up on the couch and checked her watch.

"Andrea, you sound terrible. I woke you this time, didn't I?"

"You did. But that's ok. I'm on the couch."

"You fell asleep on the couch? Why?"

Andrea frowned. Miranda was concerned? This was new. A sudden rush of the warm fuzzies flowed through the young girl and she smiled uncontrollably. "I uh..." Andrea paused and cleared her throat, trying to get rid of any traces of happiness in her voice, "It's...it's complicated."

"Ah," Miranda chimed, "of course. Troubles at home, Andrea?"

Andrea frowned once more. The older woman's voice sounded different compared to last night, or even at the banquet and couple of hours ago. She heard Miranda sniff. It was that kind of sniff someone made after they had been crying. Andrea disregarded that thought, and wondered if Miranda had caught Emily's flu, instead.

"I guess you could say that." The young girl answered while reaching for the glass of wine on the table in front of her that she had poured before going to sleep. "It was my boyfriend's birthday tonight, or...last night... I don't know. Yesterday. I was meant to be with him but the banquet popped up and... I mean that doesn't bother me, because work is work. How else am I going to pay the bills? Anyway...he was... I don't know, shitty, with me, because I couldn't make it, and I tried my best to get home as quickly as I could but it's just...It's not good enough for him. Oh god. I'm rambling. Sorry, Miranda."

"That's quite alright, Andrea. I suppose ultimately, you need to make a choice. Do you know what makes you happy the most? Work life, or your boyfriend?" Miranda questioned with another sniff. That sniff. Andrea heard rustling. It was softer than paper. A tissue perhaps? Her query was confirmed when she heard Miranda sniff twice more before extracting another tissue from a box nearby.

"He makes me feel guilty. I like working. It makes me feel good, and I feel bad about it."

"You shouldn't feel bad for doing something that satisfies you, Andrea. You should..." Miranda paused as she felt her voice break. She reached for another tissue and cleared her throat before continuing, "...You should follow your heart. Do what you want to do. Don't let anyone boss you around."

"Well...Aside from you, of course." Andrea teased. She was rewarded by a hearty laugh from the editor.

"Yes, aside from me. You do what you need to do. But don't forget about what you want to do."

_But what if what I need to do it what I want to do?_ Andrea thought. Her musings were interrupted by another sniff from Miranda. "Are _you_ alright, Miranda?"

"I'm not quite sure. I think I might need to take my own advice." Miranda sighed before audibly wincing as she changed her reclining position- feeling a sharp stabbing pain in her sides as she did so.

"What was that? Miranda are you OK?" The evidently worried tone in Andrea's voice relaxed Miranda slightly. Knowing that the young assistant actually cared about her made her feel better. _At least __**someone**__ cares._ She knew better than to tell her what happened moments before she made this phone call. Miranda didn't want to deal with the mess that had become her marriage so she just brushed it off.

"It's nothing. Just...getting old."

"That's a load of bullshit, Miranda. You're only 50, and you're perfectly fit and healthy for your age. Does this have anything to do with the fact that you were crying before?"

"H...how did you know that?" Miranda thought she did an adequate job of covering it up.

"Your voice. It's different. Your voice is sad. And you keep sniffing. And I heard you get a tissue. So tell me, Miranda, that noise you made, was it anything to do with what happened at the banquet tonight?" Andrea questioned openly, fearing Miranda would shut down and refuse to answer such a personal question. Earlier that night at the banquet, Stephen had caused a scene when he arrived. Luckily for Miranda, Andrea had diverted Irv's attention with an inquiry on old literature. Naturally, Irv took the bait and thought nothing more of Stephen's outburst.

"Miranda? Can you talk? Is he there?"

"Yes, yes I can. He's not here. He uh...we talked about things and then he left. He's staying in a hotel tonight. I think. With his mistress, probably. The poor woman."

"_Talked about things, _Miranda?"

Miranda let out an exasperated sigh, which led Andrea to her next question.

"How badly did he hit you?"

Giving up, Miranda opened up even more to Andrea, "My ribs hurt, but I can still breathe so I'm not at death's door. At least not tonight, anyway. I'll be needing quite a bit of make-up in the morning, though."

"Oh my god. Should I come over? How are the twins? Are they hurt?" Andrea was panicking now. Suddenly her issues with Nate meant nothing to her anymore.

"No, Andrea. I'm fine. So are the girls, they're asleep now. They have been since before...you know. Stephen hit me very quietly." Miranda's dry humour made Andrea wince. "Don't joke about this, Miranda."

"I'm not. He did hit me, very quietly."

"You didn't scream, or cry for help?"

"No, I never do."

"This isn't the first time?"

"No." Miranda cleared the lump that she felt rising in her throat.

"The first night I brought the Book. Is that when it started? He seemed rather aggressive then..." Andrea trailed off before Miranda interrupted her.

"No, Andrea, it's been happening since...long before last week."

"Then why are you still with him?"

"Because...because I'm scared of what he will do if I tell him to leave."

"Miranda..." Andrea sighed. She wanted so desperately to comfort the woman. Hold her, even. "I know a couple of guys in the mafia. I could give them a call, if you like..." Andrea was relieved when she heard Miranda laugh again.

"No, Andrea. That won't be necessary. I can deal with this. I just wanted to call you, and hear your voice. It's very comforting, you know."

"It is? Well...thank you Miranda. I'm glad to be of some sort of...I don't know...value... even outside of work hours. I just don't want to see you hurt."

Silence fell over them like a wet blanket. Andrea froze when she heard Miranda sob. Her voice was barely audible; a mere whisper, "Miranda..."

"Andrea." Miranda announced defiantly with another sniff, "If I send for Roy, will you come to my townhouse first thing in the morning, and help me with my make-up?"

"Of course. 7 o'clock?"

"Perfect. See you soon, Andrea. And thank you."

"You're welcome, Miranda." Andrea managed to slip in before the dial tone silenced her once again.

Despite how hard she tried, Andrea couldn't get back to sleep. Thoughts and images of a beaten Miranda Priestly swam through her mind, and Andrea knew her thoughts could not rest until she saw that the safety of the older woman was adequate with her own eyes.

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**TBC! **


	3. Chapter 3

_Here it is, folks. I know I haven't updated this in SO long so I hope it's ok. There's no phone call in this chapter, and it's in Miranda's perspective instead of Andrea's. Hope y'all enjoy! Love to love x_

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Many months had passed since Miranda had made her last midnight phone call to Andrea. In fact, many months had past since Miranda had last spoken with Andrea in person, or had even seen her at all. No, _that_ was a lie. She had seen Andrea, multiple times. Mainly while looking out her office or car window to see the young woman trotting down the busy New York streets, presumably coming to and from her new job at _The New York Mirror_, which Miranda had given her a glowing recommendation for. Several times, Miranda had gone out of her way to drive past Andrea's apartment to see if the lights were on. She would use the excuse that there was no milk left in the fridge at the townhouse when she desired a cup of tea or hot cocoa, or if one of the twins had expressed interest in purchasing a particular item, such as a CD or a book, Miranda would jump up and grab her car keys. At first, the twins grew suspicious, but they had come to the conclusion that their mother was only trying to make up for her constant absence due to her work commitments. To add to this unusual behaviour, Miranda had thought it would be wise to send Andrea anonymous gifts. Just small tokens of appreciation. Such as flowers, chocolates, tickets to the opera...no big deal. Every fashion mogul does that for their former second assistant, right?

One morning, she had asked Roy to park outside of Andrea's work. After receiving a rather questioning look from her driver, she shot him her infamous glare and he begrudgingly obliged. It was only 8am on a Monday morning but Miranda was willing to wait however long it would be until Andrea arrived. Then she would get out of the car and approach the young woman and apologize for her behaviour. Yes.

Half an hour had past and Miranda had spent the time flicking tiresomely through various magazines. She was alerted to Andrea's presence when Roy had cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows at her in the rear-view mirror. She threw her magazine aside whipped off her sunglasses before turning to the backseat window, a little too enthusiastically, and spotted Andrea walking down the street towards the building in which she worked. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the shiny black car parked outside the entrance. Taking a few steps closer, she saw Miranda sitting in the backseat, staring at her like a star-struck teenager at a Hannah Montana concert. Andrea smiled to herself and shook her head in an "I can't believe this is happening" kind of way and continued on into _The Mirror_.  
"Miranda?" Roy's concerned voice snapped the older woman out of her fixation. "Didn't you want to talk to her?"

That little headshake Andrea gave made Miranda soaring hopes sink six feet under. This was ridiculous. Ridiculous and immature. Miranda slid her sunglasses back over her eyes and shook her head with one firm movement. "No. Take me to _Runway_."

* * *

After a long day of distracting herself from the thought of that pitiful look on Andrea's face with meaningless tasks around the office, Miranda had returned home at 7pm for a lonesome dinner, as the twins were at their father's for the week.

She looked at the clock just after reviewing the Book and found it was 11:50pm. Heading into the kitchen, Miranda opened the cupboard and stood tiptoed to reach for her favourite bear-shaped mug- a Christmas present one of the twins had received a few years back but had never used due to a fear of the animal that had been caused by a school camping trip.  
She tipped a generous amount of powdered cocoa into the cup, followed by 3 teaspoons of raw sugar and stepped over to the fridge and...there's no milk.  
Miranda eyed her cars keys suspiciously. They shone mischievously on the kitchen counter under the ceiling lights. "Don't give me that look."  
Right. Talking to her car keys. Insane. She opened the fridge again, in search of some cream to substitute the milk, but she could see the keys sparkling out of the corner of her eye.  
"Ok, fine!" Miranda slammed the fridge door shut, grabbed the goddamned keys and headed for the front door.

* * *

Miranda drove through the busy night streets at 11:55pm. She had stopped at the local high-end 24 hour convenient store for her precious milk, and was now headed towards Andrea's apartment.

"I shouldn't be doing this." She told herself repeatedly as the car grew closer to the building Andrea lived in. Miranda slowed down as the car approached the tower of units, and she looked up to see that Andrea's light was still on. What was she doing up this late? Surely she had to be in at work early the next morning. How odd. As the car drove further away from the building, Miranda looked over her shoulder to her blind spot and saw a female figure standing in the bedroom window of Andrea's apartment. She drove away. Fast.

* * *

Miranda arrived home 10 minutes later. She took the long way back to the townhouse to clear her head and have a few swigs at her icy cold milk.

She locked the front door behind her, placed her handbag and keys down and headed towards the kitchen to make her cocoa. About 5 minutes later, she was startled by the message tone of her phone. She saw it was from Andrea and panicked instantly. With caution, she read the message.

_Will U stop stalking me please!_

Oh.  
Shit.

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_**TBC! :D**_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey **everyone**! Extremely short chapter this time. Will update within the next couple of days **PROMISE** :)_

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It took Miranda a total of 5 minutes to recover from the aftershock of Andrea's text message. She stole a glance at the clock and saw that it was 12:14 am. She dialed Andrea's number but paused momentarily, wondering if she would be disrupting the young woman. Shrugging nonchalantly, Miranda tapped the little green "call" button, held the phone to her ear and looked at the clock once more. 12:15.

"I demand an explanation for your inappropriate behaviour."

"Good evening, Andrea." Miranda sighed a long breath she hadn't realized she was holding in.

"You mean 'good morning'." Andrea's voice rang out indifferently, making her sound as though she was preoccupied. Miranda rolled her eyes.

"Why are you up so late?"

"What are you, my mom?"

"This is the way you speak to me after what you did in Paris?" Miranda huffed. "I just want to make sure you are okay."

"I'm sorry, what_ I _did? That's rich." Andrea contemplated hanging up, but decided against it. She could have some fun here. "You do realize you're behaviour over the last month borderlines on stalking, right?"

"I merely wanted to apologize for the way you interpreted my actions towards Nigel in Paris."

"So you _are _aware of your actions. Good. That will make this easier because maybe the sooner you understand, the sooner you will quit. Stop. Stalking. Me."

"Andrea, I-"

And...there's the dial tone. Perfect. The young woman had certainly grown feistier since their last encounter. Miranda had suspected she would. Develop a backbone and a no-nonsense attitude, maybe, but _this_. This was something else. This wasn't the frosty cold chill the average folk caught after spending a length amount of time in Miranda's presence. This wasn't a baby fire-breathing dragon she was dealing with. No, this was a sharply-clawed pointy-fanged feline.

Miranda contemplated calling Andrea again to apologize again but resisted. She turned her attention back to her phone and sent an email to her florist, and grinned.


End file.
